


Inside Your Mind

by MostGeckcellent



Series: Once More With Feeling [2]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: F/F, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera References, Trans Female Character, Trans Marius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 10:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30138078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MostGeckcellent/pseuds/MostGeckcellent
Summary: Eponine is fresh off her success on Hadestown and ready to go again - with a lesbian Phantom of the Opera that will shake the theatre world, or at least Montreal.But when she finds herself playing Erik opposite Cosette's Christine and Maria's Raoul, can her heart take it?
Relationships: Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy/Éponine Thénardier
Series: Once More With Feeling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164425
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	Inside Your Mind

“Hey, I brought coffee, just swinging by to see how my favourite production of Phantom is going.” 

Grantaire is, indeed, carrying a tray of coffee cups, and Musichetta sighs, before gesturing to everyone to take a five minute break. The cast of Phantom descends on Grantaire’s offering of coffee, and Eponine appears at Grantaire’s elbow to whisk him away. 

“Why did I decide to do this?” she asks desperately. “Grantaire. This was such a mistake.” 

“Oh, you didn’t enjoy making out with Cosette today?” Grantaire asks, like the bastard he is, an innocent smile on his face. 

“Fuck you,” Eponine frowns. She downs her coffee in one, and groans dramatically. “It’s my dream come true and my nightmare all at once, and Maria is just like. There. Watching. Crying over it.” 

“Shame you don’t get to kiss her, too,” Grantaire grins at her. 

“You could have some sympathy,” Eponine whines. 

“I could.” He pats her on the head. “You’ll work it out, I know you will.” 

“I will cut you,” Eponine threatens. 

“Kinky.” 

Eponine swats him in the head. “No, but seriously, what am I supposed to do?”

“Well, I dunno, how did Cosette feel about the kiss?” Grantaire asks. 

“Fucked if I know, she’s the best goddamn actress I know.” Eponine is both impressed and put out by it. 

“I mean, she’s the one who gave you the idea, right?”

“Yeah, because she thinks it’s cool and subversive, not because she wants to make out with me, Grantaire,” Eponine rolls her eyes. 

“Could be both,” Grantaire points out. 

“You’re the worst,” Eponine tells him. 

“You love me.” 

“Unfortunately. God knows why.” 

Grantaire has to go again - he’s needed for his indie experimental thing again, and has only swung by on a break to check on Eponine. It’s nice of him, she admits begrudgingly. Talking to Grantaire has helped her get her head on straight again - as straight as she can be about anything, she thinks, and then she thinks she’s spending too much time with Grantaire if she’s making that stupid joke now. But she’s thinking with her head again, and not her stupid broken heart, and she’s ready to get back into it. Sort of. 

“Back at ‘em,” Musichetta announces, and Eponine drags herself back on stage. Maria is on the steps, a makeshift noose around her neck, and Cosette is kneeling on the floor. She can cry on cue, and it doesn’t impact her singing at all, which is just unfair. 

“Take it from the top,” Musichetta instructs. It’s her first go at directing, but Eponine thinks she’s doing a fantastic job. She has a hell of a vision, and she seems to always know exactly what she wants. 

Maria makes wide, terrified eyes as Eponine pushes Cosette around, threatening her, threatening her Raoul. “You test my patience,” Eponine growls. “Choose!” 

When Cosette surges forward to kiss her, it’s scripted. It’s planned. She knows it’s coming, but it shocks her, and takes all the air from her lungs anyway. It plays out well onstage, at least, Eponine’s hands floating in the air like she doesn’t know what to do with them. Cosette kisses her again, and Eponine manages to kiss back, this time. Maria cries out in despair, clutching the noose around her neck, but there is nothing she can do. The kiss ends, and Eponine pulls back slowly, eyes locked with Cosette’s. Slowly, she reaches for a candle, and walks up to Maria. She caresses her face, slowly, and Maria flinches. Eponine raises the candle, and the rope falls as if burned apart. Maria collapses to her knees, coughing. 

“Christine..” She reaches out towards Cosette, and Eponine jumps back into shadow, as if burned.

“Go! Go now,” she commands. “Forget me, forget all of this.” Maria rushes to take Cosette in her arms, and Cosette is trembling, looking wide-eyed at Eponine. 

They head for the boat, or rather, the tape on the floor where the boat will be. Eponine is alone, for a moment, before Cosette enters again, holding out the ring. 

“Christine, I love you,” Eponine sings, and lets her voice shake. Lets herself betray a moment of fear - the chorus sings as the mob, coming for her, though they aren’t visible on-stage. 

She closes Cosette’s hand around the prop ring again, and watches Cosette go. The mob arrives, and Eponine slips out in a moment she knows she will have when the lights go dark. 

“Good! Very good,” Musichetta calls out, and the scene is abruptly over. Cosette and Maria return to the stage. “I like the passion - keep it up.” She has some notes, and they run a few little things in detail, and then move on. Eponine feels like the world is spinning, but she doesn’t look at Cosette or Maria. She’s not in the next scene they’re rehearsing, so she sits off to one side, messing about on her phone. 

Rehearsal ends, and Eponine is so lost in her own head that she doesn’t notice. Not until Cosette is there, a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey.. are you alright?” she asks. “Rehearsal’s over.” 

“Oh. Shit.” Eponine looks up, and sure enough, only Cosette and Maria remain. 

“You seem distracted,” Cosette observes. 

“Just - a weird day, I’m fine. It’s fine,” Eponine tries to assure her. 

Cosette doesn’t look convinced. “Come home and have supper with us,” she invites Eponine. Maria nods in the background. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble.” She shouldn’t go. She’s messed with her own head enough for a day. But she’s also never been any good at telling Cosette no. 

“Don’t be silly, you’re always welcome.” Cosette beams at her, and they walk out to Maria’s beat up car. Cosette and Maria live just outside of Montreal, in a nice little house with a garden and a picket fence and a dog and everything. 

Maribelle the golden retriever bounds up to the door as Maria lets them all in, and Eponine crouches to scratch behind her ears before following them both inside. Maria goes to the fridge and pulls out ingredients to start supper, and Cosette makes tea.

“Can I help?” Eponine asks. 

“Just relax,” Cosette tells her. She brings Eponine tea, and it's just the way she likes it. Cosette is a saint. Eponine takes a sip, and sits on the couch. Cosette disappears into the kitchen again. Eponine thinks she sees Cosette and Maria whispering something to each other, and tries not to let herself worry too hard about it. 

Cosette sets the table, and includes an honest to god candle and everything. Dinner is some sort of pasta. It’s delicious, and it sure beats the frozen empanadas Eponine was going to heat up in her microwave at home. It’s fancy, and - well, if Eponine didn’t know better, she would think she was being wooed. It’s extravagant. She wonders if she’s accidentally crashed a date night. 

They eat, and they chat. Maria and Cosette exchange glances every now and then, and Eponine tries not to read into it. 

“Eponine..” Cosette says as they’re finishing up their last few bites. 

“Mhm?” 

“We invited you here,” she glances at Maria, who is wide-eyed and already turning pink. “Well, we invited you because there’s something we’d like to ask you. And there’s no pressure! You’re one of our best friends, and since you’ve come back, it’s honestly been really wonderful to spend so much time with you again. And - well, we’d like to keep doing that.” 

“O..kay?” Eponine says slowly. 

“But,” Cosette soldiers on. “We both really like you. As a friend, yes, but also as - well, as more. And we were wondering if you would go on a date. With us.” 

“A date? With both of you?” Eponine echoes, trying to process the question. 

“If you want,” Cosette confirms bravely. 

Eponine glances at Maria, who’s barely said a word all evening. She knows, logically, that Cosette wouldn’t ask if Maria wasn’t okay with it, but, well. She needs confirmation. 

Maria, thankfully, seems to get that without being told. “It’s up to you, ‘Ponine,” she says. “But Cosette is right, we both really like you.” 

“Oh.” Eponine needs a moment. She isn’t going to faint, because she’s not a blushing maiden or whatever from the regency era, but she does feel a little light-headed. 

They’re all silent for a while. “Dessert!” Maria announces, and she all but flees from the table to fetch a rich-looking chocolate cake from the kitchen. Cosette must have made it herself. 

Cosette cuts the cake, and hands out slices. Eponine continues to try to process. Cosette and Maria exchange a worried glance, and Eponine takes a deep breath. “So - a date?” she asks. 

“If you want,” Cosette repeats herself. 

“I - yeah. Yes, sure. Yeah,” Eponine says, and she thinks she must sound like an idiot, but Maria and Cosette both beam at her like she’s hung the sun in the sky for them with her words. 

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Maria gushes. “Thank god. Cosette was so sure you’d say yes, but I didn’t know -” 

“You didn’t know?” Eponine asks, incredulous. 

“Well, we’ve been friends so long..” 

She’s had a crush on Maria for as long as she’s known her. And then Cosette had come along, and she’d wanted to hate her for stealing Maria away, except Maria had never been Eponine’s to steal, and it’s impossible to hate Cosette, anyway, she’s the kindest person Eponine has ever met. 

“You’re absurd,” she tells Maria, and smiles despite herself. 

“So Cosette tells me,” she says sheepishly. “And you. And.. most people.” 

“But I would love to go on a date with you both,” Eponine says firmly. It still feels too good to be true, but, well. 

Cosette walks up to her, and places a soft hand on her cheek. “May I?” she asks, and Eponine nods dumbly. 

Cosette kisses her. It’s not like their stage kisses, it’s nothing like that. It’s sweet, and Eponine can hardly breathe. And then Maria kisses her, too, and then Maria and Cosette kiss, and it’s a lot of kissing, all around, and Eponine thinks that maybe, just maybe, she gets to have this good thing. If she lets herself. 

  
  
  
  


Curtains close on the opening night of Phantom of the Opera. When they rise, it’s time for bows. They have a standing ovation already. The chorus bows first. Cosette and Marius are second-to-last to come back to the stage, and they bow together, sharing a brief kiss as they do. And then Eponine comes out, and the applause is thunderous. She’s beaming wide, breathing hard. They’ve really done it. Marius and Cosette each kiss one of her cheeks as the curtain falls in front of them again, and Eponine waits only until the curtain is sweeping the floor before kissing each of them properly. “Let’s go celebrate,” she murmurs. She’s never been happier in her life. 


End file.
